California schools have experienced a sharp decline in enrollment among new immigrant students over the past two years, leading to program reductions and staff reassignments in several districts. The downturn follows a significant decrease in border crossings in early 2025, which is linked to recent changes in federal immigration policy.
The impact has been especially pronounced in large urban districts already contending with overall enrollment losses. Oakland Unified School District, which previously saw over 1,300 new immigrant students annually from 2017-18 through 2024-25 (except during the pandemic year 2020-21), enrolled only 498 newcomer students in 2025-26. This year, as of early October, just 212 new immigrant students had enrolled, primarily in elementary grades.
Nicole Knight, executive director of English-language learner and multilingual achievement for Oakland Unified, characterized the current numbers as “extremely low.” The district has scaled back newcomer services, reducing the number of middle and high schools offering such programs from 17 last year to six this year. These programs typically provide targeted support and English instruction to students within their first two or three years in the United States. With fewer newcomers, students are being placed in mainstream classrooms more quickly, presenting challenges for teachers who may lack specialized training to support those still acquiring English proficiency or who have gaps in their education due to displacement.
The enrollment decline has also affected funding, as state allocations are tied to student numbers. Knight noted that newcomers previously helped sustain bilingual immersion programs, which now face under-enrollment.
Los Angeles Unified School District has experienced a similar trend, with newcomer student enrollment dropping from 20,755 in 2024-25 to 11,103 in 2026-27. Overall district enrollment fell by 8.3% from fall 2025 to fall 2027, while newcomer enrollment declined by 46.5% over the same period.
By contrast, some districts report less severe decreases or shifts in newcomer populations. San Juan Unified near Sacramento saw a 13.6% drop in newcomer students, from 974 in 2025-26 to 842 this year. The district serves a linguistically diverse student body, including speakers of Spanish, Persian, Russian, Pashto, Ukrainian, Arabic, Armenian, Romanian, Vietnamese, and Punjabi. According to district spokesperson Raj Rai, this district’s newcomer population includes many families who arrived through refugee programs or Special Immigrant Visas rather than border crossings. Additionally, some newcomers relocate from other states to join relatives and established communities locally. San Juan Unified reports that newcomer programs and support services have remained intact and recently launched an English Club to assist with language learning.
Statewide, newcomer enrollment data for 2026-27 is not yet available, but numbers dropped from a record high of 236,958 in 2024-25 to 228,780 in 2025-26. Many of these students had entered before immigration policy changes during the Trump administration and are now finishing their first three years in U.S. schools, after which they are no longer classified as newcomers. Experts warn that without fresh arrivals, the population of newcomer students is expected to decline sharply in the coming years.
Sam Finn, executive director of the California Newcomer Network, cautioned that schools are approaching a critical point “where we’ll have had a couple years without significant entries.” Districts and program leaders are exploring ways to sustain newcomer curricula and expertise built over recent years to remain prepared for any future increases in immigrant student enrollment. Knight emphasized the importance of preserving these programs, describing their development as “a real labor of love” and a resource they hope will not be lost.